The exact duties of a marketing executive differ greatly among individual organizations, but ultimately this individual is responsible for coordinating client projects and getting results. Marketing executives must keep up-to-date on clients' product lines as well as with the changing needs of the target market. Depending on the company and his or her rank within it, a marketing executive may plan, oversee and follow up on the distribution of promotional projects as well as travel to trade shows. Marketing managers may also maintain information on the company's website, attend meetings regularly and communicate with clients while working in a team environment.

A marketing executive may report to a senior manager as well as have assistants reporting to him or her. During client marketing projects, this structure will mean that the executive will both receive and give directions. Typically, the client projects will involve working with other departments such as the creative team to produce handouts for a trade show or information packages for a mailing. In the case of e-mailing marketing campaigns, he or she may do data entry, or direct assistants in doing it, to keep the project on track to its deadline.

Meeting in person with, or speaking on the telephone with, clients is a part of many marketing executives' jobs. They must build a good ongoing relationship with clients and make sure all deadlines are met. Once a new marketing campaign is launched, a marketing executive follows up with each the clients for feedback. If a marketing executive reports to a manager, he or she will discuss any important client issues or ask for advice. If there are any serious concerns, the senior manager may speak with the client.

Regular meetings are common for marketing executives, especially in larger agencies or companies. Many of these may be department meetings in which new projects or computer software programs are discussed. Some marketing executives travel quite often in their job; this may include national or international destinations depending on the client reach of the agency. Other executives may not go on business trips to trade shows, but work on special projects such as on local promotions outside the office.

Marketing executives are often involved in testing campaigns. Marketing is a highly results-oriented activity. A marketing executive may use computer software to track the results of campaigns. Comparisons with previous promotions are made so marketing executives can learn what strategies work best for each target audience.

Discuss this Article

@MrMoody - In general, I would agree with that point for email campaigns. However, believe it or not, not everyone is using the Internet to get the bulk of their business.

It’s not that they can’t use the Internet. It’s that the Internet isn’t appropriate as a direct selling tool for all kinds of business enterprises.

Everyone should have a presence on the Internet, but what I mean is that some companies use their websites for company contact information and brand recognition, while they use other channels to make the sale.

I know this for a fact because that’s what we do. We sell very expensive software to a specialized industry, and rarely, if ever, make a sale through the company website. We meet with prospects at trade shows and through cold calling mainly.

MrMoodyPost 1

I think that popular media often promote the idea of a marketing executive coming up with the idea of a killer “pitch” or advertising campaign that will send buyers swarming to a prospect’s doors.

While this makes good fiction, I don’t think that it happens that way in real life. There is a lot of science and number crunching behind knowing what users want and don’t want.

I also believe that the Internet has thrown a wrench in the process, because it becomes even more challenging to develop a campaign that can stand out from the billions of web pages clamoring for attention.

For that reason, I think that a marketing executive must be savvy with Internet promotional techniques too.

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